Visits

Driving through the Mont Blanc Mountain, the coach gave a small cheer as we officially crossed from France to Italy, the tunnel opening onto the Aosta valley where we were greeted with 24 degree heat and beautiful sunshine at the bottom of the mountain.

After the heavy-duty task of getting the ‘magic 29' fully fitted in ski boots, skis, helmets and ski poles, a fantastic effort was seen from everyone on the first day’s skiing. Taking the gondola 20 minutes up the steep mountain onto the snowy resort of Pila, we proceeded to throw ourselves gallantly into the fray- a few sore behinds and knees, but a willing attitude despite initial injuries! By day three the ‘magic 29’ had got the hang of it (as had the staff), mastering the red runs and (a bit optimistically) tackling the odd black run too.

Evening activities kept everyone busy, from ice skating, hiking and disco dancing, where even the 6th formers gave in and joined in on the dance floor. Only the brave (and crazy) joined Miss Miller on her 6am run- catching the sunrise in the quiet valleys before breakfast.

The holiday's most strenuous activity however, had to be the evening rounds of Articulate, a game not taken lightly by the competitive Miss Brears, although questions such as “Who’s Jane Fonda” from the year eights kept us all entertained.

The mountains were fantastic, with blue skies every day and temperatures perfect for an apres-ski ice-cream. The ski instructors really got the best from everybody, commenting on how much the Dane Court group had progressed in just a week and this was reflected in the awards evening, the groups presented with certificates and badges for their achievements.

In such a mixed group, from year eights up to sixth formers, it was impressive how much the students took care of each other on the mountain, skiing being a sport that takes a fair bit of courage as well as skill when you’re 1000s of metres up.

Main things we learnt; we don’t wear jeans under our salopettes, we do wear ski socks even if we think they are ugly. And if you forget your helmet or your goggles it’s a 40 minute round trip down and back up the mountain to get them...